Sri Lanka will begin oil drilling in the Mannar Basin covering 3,400 sq.km at depths between 200 to 1,800 meters, in July this year with the completion of acquiring three-dimensional (3D) seismic data on 1,450 square kilometers off Mannar in the northwesern coast, Director General of the Petroleum Resource Development Secretariat (PRDS) Dr. Neil De Silva said.
Cairn India started 3D seismic surveys to search for oil in the Gulf of Mannar waters off Sri Lanka's north-west in 2009 by its local unit, Cairn Lanka, and it has now been completed along with data processing, he added.
The programme has fulfilled the commitment of 1450 km of 3D seismic data acquisition and it was acquired by CGG Veritas AS using the seismic vessel “SR/ V Viking II. 3D seismic data produces a cube of data which greatly enhances the understanding of the geological sub surface and improves the chances to discover oil and gas deposits and would help it to find sites for drilling test wells, he said.
Global expression of interest for provision of services for drilling, testing and completion of exploratory wells in deep water block has been called by Cairn Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and several service contractors have already been selected, Dr. De Silva told the Business Times. Cairn Lanka is now conducting a metocean survey to gauge weather and sea current patterns on Sri Lanka’s side of the Mannar basin in preparation for drilling three oil exploration wells he said. The Mannar basin is an under-explored frontier petroleum province, virtually unexplored in Sri Lanka with both structural and stratigraphic plays.
This detailed study commenced in March 2010 in preparation for the exploration drilling of three wells planned to commence in July this year, he added.
The Mannar basin has eight oil and gas exploration blocks and two of them have been granted to China and India. Russia's largest oil company, Gazprom also plans to take part in the exploration of offshore oil in the Mannar basin.
Sri Lanka has identified and demarcated three blocks in the Cauvery Basin off the northeastern coast and one block off the coast of Hambanthota in addition to the eight blocks in Mannar basin, he revealed. According to the Petroleum Resources DevelopmentSecretariat, oil exploration in Sri Lanka started in early 1970s and continued until the mid 1980s, when seven wells were drilled offshore northwest. |
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